Michele Bachmann, in one of her last campaign stops before the Christmas break, blasted the extension of the payroll tax cut.

“This is a reason why I’m running for president, because D.C. is obviously broken. They’re not listening to the people here in Iowa. People in Iowa have said to me, ‘Why in the world would the politicians take money out of the Social Security trust fund, just when it needs it more than ever?’”

Asked if her House Republican colleagues “caved” by agreeing to a payroll tax extension, Bachmann said she’s been warning them for a year not to go down this road. She said taking $111 billion out of the Social Security trust will only add to the national debt. “It was a mistake a year ago, and it’s a mistake today,” she said.

I asked why she thought her fellow Republicans made the deal. “I think both sides agreed that something had to be done, but I think the more important thing is that they listen to the people. Senior citizens are very upset, if you talk to them, because they recognize that they’re the ones who could end up at the short end of the stick.”

Bachmann said she was making her 71st stop in Iowa during an extended bus tour. However, she was without her bus today so that campaign staff could make it home for the holidays, her campaign staff said.

During a stop in Papa Leo’s restaurant on the town square in Chariton, she shot a segment for a campaign video on how to caucus. Iowa campaign officials talked to the crowd while she worked the room. State Sen. Brad Zahn said Bachmann had lost her voice yesterday. Although she sounded fine when she shot the video, her campaign said she gets hoarse by the end of the day.

Bachmann didn’t mention any of her fellow GOP candidates during her appearance. But Tamara Scott, a conservative Republican leader who has endorsed Bachmann, told the crowd that Rick Santorum had endorsed Mitt Romney in 2008.

Bachmann was scheduled to appear in Pella and Newton today before heading home for a two-day Christmas break. She’s scheduled to be back in Iowa on Monday, her campaign staff said.

Some have questioned the value of the extended bus tour in Iowa, but I talked to one Chariton voter who said seeing the candidates in person makes a difference. Doris Mikesell, 62, has decided to attend a caucus for the first time, and she’s narrowed her choices to Bachmann or Rick Perry.

She said she was impressed with Bachmann, and she intends to see Perry in person next week before making up her mind. “I think you get more of a sense of what they’re really like if you see them in person,” compared to just watching them on TV, she said.